Scott Carruthers’ Post

☠ Punished for effective ads? Why the Google Ads auction is an unfair place to play... Back in Q4 of last year, Google added a new, sixth factor that determines which ads appear in the auction and in what order. If your Ad Rank is significantly higher than someone else in the same auction (i.e. the quality of your ads for that auction is better), then you could be subject to *even higher* CPCs on the basis that you have an increased certainty of winning. Google Ads has always worked on the basis that your CPC reflects the bid of the next highest bidder in the auction - however, this "competitiveness of the auction" update indicates that you would pay even more than that. This is terrifying because it means that you're effectively being punished for doing a much better job of optimising your ads. Is there a point at which optimising your ads becomes detrimental to the overall? #ppc #ppcchat #google #googleads

🤷♂️ When the Google team don't even like the new UI... Love that Google have released 'Mad PMax' which allows you to upload and edit Performance Max campaigns and assets using Google Sheets - going to make PMax creation (and creative changes) SO much easier... #google #googleads #performancemax #pmax #ppc #ppcchat

🔓 Unlocking Volume in Performance Max (but it comes with a catch...) There's a constant discussion in the world of PPC about the balance between control and performance - should we allow Google to take more control if it means better results? (most PPC-ers will answer this with a resounding "NO!"). A key example of this dichotomy is Final URL Expansion for Performance Max (or Page Feeds for Performance Max). Final URL Expansion allows Google to replace the final URL you've selected for your ads with a different landing page from your domain (or, if using Page Feeds, from the list you've supplied). This helps the AI get a better understanding of what products / services you're offering, as well as giving it more scope in terms of where it can land users, driving higher volumes. 📈 In this example, we saw a 121% increase in conversions when measuring pre vs post switch on. CPA increased by just 9%. But what's the catch? When using Final URL Expansion, or Page Feeds for PMax, you have to enable Automatically Created Assets - allowing Google to generate a headline, description or other assets to match the landing page it's using. And let me tell you - some of the examples of what it's created are not pretty. 😣 Where do you stand on control vs performance? Would you accept the use of auto created assets for these results? Or would you need to maintain control? #ppc #ppcchat #google #googleads #performancemax

👥 Passionate about Performance Max? Crazy about Ad Copy? Could this be you? We're on the look out for PPC analysts in Leeds, London and Manchester! Now's your chance to join an amazing team of PPC experts at one of Campaign UK's best places to work! We're always looking at new ways to excite clients with powerful strategies, challenging each other with debates and discussions, and last year, the entire team flew to Dublin for a couple of days with Google. If this sounds like a bit of you, then drop me a line, or hit the link below 👇 https://lnkd.in/eKpKzemS #ppc #ppcchat #google #googleads

🎯 Broad match is a very different product to what it was a year or so ago, and is improving all the time. If you're not using it, you could be missing out... We've been fairly extensively testing Broad match across our accounts and have seen some striking results. 📈 In 75% of the tests we've run, accounts have seen a notable increase in conversion volume with no negative impact on efficiency levels. One of the major reasons behind this is likely the additional signals available to Broad match that aren't available to other match types. When determining whether your ads are eligible for any particular auction, Broad match keywords take into account factors such as User location and Previous searches; something missing from other match types. These two aspects alone are huge - 🗺 Location - taking into account where a user is in order to find more relevant matches opens up a whole new world of matching possibilities. 🔎 Previous searches - this can really show a users intent, how far along in the buying journey they are, and whether or not your product is relevant. Are you testing Broad Match and using all of the signals available to you? What's stopping you? #ppc #ppcchat #google #googleads #broadmatch

📚 A great book that takes a refreshing look at the way people run small service businesses (with a particular focus on digital marketing agencies) - that is, revenue figures, or employee growth numbers are not the be-all and end-all, and there’s merit in building a sustainable, happy agency. Stop the Scale by Kirk Williams  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Kirk does a great job of outlining that this is not the perfect solution for everyone - some businesses want / need to scale massively, and all of this advice is still a work in progress. He then goes into a lot of detail on how you can embrace a small agency; how you don’t have to build with a view to Exit. There are lots of fantastic chapters on how to identify red flags when taking on new clients and how to market for stable growth. Whilst this book is generally positioned at agency owners, or people looking to build their own business, I think there is something for everyone. 🗣 Have a role in managing other people? Chapters 8 and 9 talk through Kirk’s approach to hiring and then keeping good people. While you may not be in charge of someone’s salary, you can help look at the level of stress they’re taking on, or support their personal growth. ☎ Deal directly with clients? (Surely that’s nearly everyone in digital marketing nowadays?) Kirk explains how client communication is an art form, requiring practice and understanding, and I completely agree! Again - you might not be in a position to take on his advice around discussing pricing with clients, but you can read up on appropriate responses, or understanding client motivations. 📣 Putting yourself out there. Chapter 6 is all about building a brand - but is just as (if not more) effective at describing this for personal brands as it is for businesses. Use your personality as a strength - lean into the areas that you are an expert in, and talk in a way that’s authentically you. While a lot of agency owners and freelancers would benefit from this book, don’t let that put you off - there is definitely something for everyone in digital marketing here. Plus, it’s always good to be future-facing in your career, so what you don’t find useful now still could be useful in the future. Key Takeaway Even though this book goes into a lot of detail about the components that make up an agency (dealing with clients, winning new business, employee retention) - it is still the overarching message that has stuck with me. You don’t have to grow to succeed. There is success in doing work that you’re proud of. There is success in having a happy team and happy clients. You don’t have to chase huge revenue figures or massive employee growth numbers. Find what works for you. Find happy. ---- Each week, I'm sharing a book I've read, a quick summary, and my key takeaway. I'm always on the lookout for new reads, so if you've read something great recently, let me know in the comments👇 #ppc #ppcchat #google #googleads

💙 What are you proud of this week? Working in PPC can get a little overwhelming sometimes - you can get lost in the numbers, or caught up chasing your tail with client requests - and sometimes, you can lose track of why you're doing it. Which is why our PPC team meeting yesterday was a breath of fresh air. In a change from our usual programming (read: debating over which order your metrics should go in in a report, or complaining about Performance Max), Sophie and the Manchester team took us through all the reasons that they are proud this week. This included; 🏦 Delivering best ever results on an account, despite a very limited budget! ☎ Forging a stronger relationship with a client - being the go-to person at the agency for the client to reach out to. 📝 Getting on top of organisational skills with fresh roadmaps for clients. 🤝 Working more closely with other teams in the agency to deliver strong results. Sometimes, with how busy we can get, it's difficult to see the wood for the trees, but taking a step back can really put things into perspective and make you realise how much you have to be proud of - even if it's just the little things! 🐝 Huge thank you to Team MCR for putting things in perspective! What have you done this week that's made you proud? #ppc #ppcchat #google #googleads

🎁 Struggling with Enhanced Conversions? Google have a shiny new product to help! At this point - if you're using Google Ads Tag conversions, you should also be using Enhanced Conversions to send hashed first-party conversion data to Google to better power your Google Ads tools (such as Smart Bidding) - however, it can be a little tricky to ensure it's set up correctly. That's where EC Assist comes in... Released in the last week, EC Assist is a Chrome Plug-in that helps you troubleshoot your Enhanced Conversions set up - providing in-depth validation across the areas that you're using Enhanced Conversions. Simply install the Chrome Plug-in, run a test conversion and get a full diagnosis as well as suggested next steps for your Enhanced Conversion set up. Grab the Chrome extension from the link here; https://lnkd.in/et2sqFke #ppc #ppcchat #google #googleads

🐤 Meanwhile, over on X... Strong opinions on Brand bidding... but should you or shouldn't you? The anonymous public say no! To be honest, the opinions over here on LinkedIn seem to be just as strong. And unfortunately, I think that the answer is... "it depends" 🤷♂️ There are lots of justifications for either running Brand campaigns (Brand protection, unpredictable competition etc) or for stopping them altogether (unnecessary additional costs) - but whether or not you run them is down to you as a Brand - there are no hard and fast rules. If you want to find out how your Brand campaigns are performing, it's really easy to run a Brand incrementality test - pausing and unpausing your Brand activity on alternating days and measuring the impact on your Branded Organic traffic. But this wouldn't paint the whole picture around the other positive effects your Brand ads are having, and wouldn't answer for a changing field of competition. Given there are so many different elements to Brand bidding - are you asking the right questions? What is your approach? #ppc #ppcchat #google #googleads